Sonny Bono: “today I rise to speak to this body and the nation, especially those in California's 44th district, about the President's…”

“today I rise to speak to this body and the nation, especially those in California's 44th district, about the President's FY 2000 budget for Defense. Since 1985, Mr. Speaker, Defense spending has gone down in this country. When the Constitution was drafted, it was based upon the doctrine of limited government. Those powers that were not granted the federal government were reserved to the States. One of the primary, and exclusive powers, of the federal government is to provide for the national defense. This means fully funding our military to make them the strongest, best trained, best equipped, and, not to mention, the best taken care of force in the world. Many of those who live in the district I proudly represent are or were in the military. The sacrifices they made or are making should never be forgotten; for they contribute to the freedoms we now enjoy. The President's budget claims to increase defense spending in Fiscal Year 2000 by $12.6 billion and $112 billion over the next 5 years. Due the Administration's creative accounting and their rosy forecasts for the economy, the reality is that this "increase" is really $4.1 billion in FY 2000 and $84 billion over those same 5 years. I applaud the Administration for the increase, but it falls way short of what the military needs.”